Events


You know you are reaching your audience when the performer at the event you are registering voters at starts signing a freestyle made up song called “I’m on the Bus!” This is exactly what happened when the voter registration crew worked the Willy Porter concert at the WOW hall earlier this month. Hearing in impromptu folk ballad about political change all revolving around getting on the Bus was quite a moment and the crowd was loving it. If we only could have convinced Willy to put on his bus button, it would have been perfect.

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I’ve been spending some time trying to help out the voter registration efforts. The benefits are plenty; getting to see a show for free and getting to talk with young or new voters.

One of the most striking themes was at the Heiroglyphics/Blue Scholars concert where we ran into SO many 17 year old voters who were not going to be old enough to vote this time, but you could tell they were very engaged with what is going on.

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As we get closer to the voter registration deadline, the crowds are getting more enthusiastic about the upcoming vote. Last night at the Hot Buttered Rum String Band show, instead of politely saying “yes” when asked if they are registered, they give a high five or say “you better believe it!”. The countdown nears so get involved if you haven’t yet. Thanks to our tireless voter registration team Alison and Kristina for all of their hard work!

Relay For Life®, the American Cancer Society’s signature event, is a fun-filled overnight experience designed to bring together those who have been touched by cancer. At Relay, people from within the community gather to celebrate survivors, remember those lost to cancer, and to fight back against this disease. Relay participants help raise money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society in its lifesaving mission to eliminate cancer as a major health issue.

The Bus Project team needs your help! Donate today on their team page to give them the encouragement they need to complete the 24 hour relay!

The event starts at noon on Friday and goes until noon on Saturday at LCC.

For more details please check out the Eugene/Springfield Relay for Life homepage.

Stay tuned for photos and results!

Do you find yourself coming to LaneBus.org and saying, “They never update this!” I do it all the time.

Well, whenever this happens to you and you want to whet your political whistle, try some of our new news feeds!

Down the sidebar to the right, you will find current articles from Blog Net News

We even have our own channel set up!

Now if you want to step outside the state and see what is going on, you can click on the BUZZ link at the top right of the menu and see some feeds from news sources around the globe.

These would be my 2nd and 3rd choices for you to do. My first choice would be to write your own article and submit it for consideration!!

At Davis’s tonight at 7-9pm (ie Thurs, June 26), we will have the 232nd annual celebration of America with one brewhaha. Come celebrate your patriotism by discussing how to make our city a little better. The topic: safety in the city.

We’ll be touching on tasers and guns, bad apples and trees, crime and punishment, prevention and meth, mental health problems and theft, too few resources and not enough time. And we’ll talk about the job that a modern day police officer does, the difficulties they encounter, the feelings they get from the community, and the dangerous and sometimes thankless job they must do every day.

No topic is off limits, especially the topic on how we are treating one another, even those we strongly disagree with.

(Davis’s is on the corner of Olive and Broadway)

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On Friday, June 27 the Track and Field Olympic Trials will begin in little ol’ Eugene, Oregon.

What does this mean for voter reg?…

…The population of Eugene will double during the 9 days of the Trials and there will be thousands of people that need to be registered to vote!

We have hundreds of cards that are begging to be filled out and we need YOU to help us out!

Sign up for a shift or two on ANY DAY during the Trials and register our new friends to vote.

Ask for Lynn or Alison at the glorious Lane Bus office: 541.344.9999
Or email us here yo.
OR… hit up our event page on facebook.

Shifts will be available on the following days:

Friday, June 27 2-4
Saturday, June 28 12-4
Sunday, June 29 12-4

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George Carlin died yesterday at 71 from a heart attack. He didn’t have any faith in our political system and made that fact very well known. To him, it was too corrupt to even participate. Sometimes I get that too. If he were ever to take a stand, I am quite sure he would have stood on the side of what the Bus Project believes in. Getting past the angry and often vulgar delivery, Carlin always spoke his mind, which is something I think we all can take a lesson from.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

-George Carlin

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We’re recruiting some badass volunteers to work our Bus booth at the:

Broadway Bloc Party!

June 13th and 14th (6pm – the wee hours of he night)
Located at the Barmuda triangle. Broadway& Olive, Downtown Eugene.

Tickets are running $50 a pop, but hit the streets with the Bus and you’re in for free.
We’ll train you a week before if you’re new to the scene.

After a shift or two enjoy the tunes of legendary artists such as:
- Bassnectar
- Sound Tribe Sector 9!
- Pnuma
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- The Devil Makes Three
- Islands and More

Volunteer spaces are going fast:
Email Lynn Moracco @ the Lane Bus to snag a spot.

PICTURES of the amazing day!

(hat tip to Garrett for his skillz. aka. The GearGreaser)

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Casting a vote for the next generation
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

In 2004, Oregon and Kansas shared a last-place dishonorable mention for having the largest gap in turnout between younger and older voters. A whopping 28 percent more older voters cast ballots in Oregon that year than did younger ones. In a state with such an accomplished history of citizen involvement, that fact signaled an alarming generational shift in civic engagement. Participatory government only works with participants.

Oregon needs a plan for engaging its young citizens as voters, as volunteers, as board members and candidates for elected office. Nothing less than the future of the state is riding on it. Historically, overall voter turnout in Oregon has been a benchmark of success. And it’s no surprise that high levels of voter turnout translate into high levels of citizenship in other areas, too — from addressing flooding at Johnson Creek to passing landmark citizen legislation through the ballot initiative process.

But 2008 has been the year of the young voter across the nation, and it could be the beginning of a new trend in Oregon, as well. After two consecutive national elections with increased youth turnout, this year has seen unprecedented turnout levels in the primaries (youth turnout has doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in some states). That represents a special opportunity to engage young voters in Oregon, and for keeping them engaged beyond the election.

Oregon’s young people are poised to make a key impact in today’s primary, and it looks like they know it. So far this year, four times more young people than any other age group have registered to vote for the first time, accounting for more than half of all new registrations. As reported in a recent story in The Oregonian, this group could very well affect the state’s politics for years to come.

But the political engagement of this “millennial generation” cannot begin and end with a frenzied presidential contest. We must set our sights past November, and farther down the ballot than the presidential bubble. The cultural and institutional challenges of voter access and inadequate civic education that have for so long discouraged youth participation will persist, and they will be ours to face together.

The Bus Project is working to address these challenges through volunteer engagement and fun events such as Trick-or-Vote, young leader trainings and voter advocacy, such as support for a bill passed last year that allows teenagers to register to vote as soon as they turn 17. But as Oregonians we must also re-examine how vote-by-mail works for young voters, who move frequently. Policies to consider: same-day registration, which according to the Pew Charitable Trusts is the best way to increase participation; subsidized stamps; online registration such as in Washington state; and organized mock elections and voter drives in public schools.

And government is not the only solution. Foundations and nonprofit organizations and schools should be looking for ways to include youth engagement in their focus.

Although today’s primary will have its winners and losers, one of the winners we should be celebrating already is that more than 43,000 young Oregonians registered to vote for the first time. Regardless of the outcomes today, or for that matter in November, Oregon has an opportunity to cast a meaningful (metaphorical) vote this year — to prioritize the next generation.

We’re ready.

Caitlin Baggott is director of the Bus Project Foundation. Alex Aronson is youth vote director for the foundation.

Once again folks….we bring this super handy Ballot Drop Box Locator.

Voting is damn sexy.
You still have a chance to prove you love Oregon and Democracy. Get your ballot in a box pronto ma friend. Democracy will thank you.

The deadline to drop off your ballot is May 20th at 8pm. (No more mailing with a stamp).
Call the Lane Bus office with questions. 541. 344.9999

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